Judge Rejects Recall

DIGEST

MIAMI - — Metro-Dade County Commissioner Maurice Ferre has escaped the wrath of voters - at least for now.

Siding with attorneys who filed a lawsuit on Ferre's behalf, Circuit Judge Gisela Cardonne on Friday threw out a recall petition signed by more than 2,100 voters.

Cardonne ruled that the petition violated a county charter provision requiring a year to elapse from the time a recall campaign is defeated until a new recall petition is certified. A similar campaign against Ferre failed last summer.

The judge also said that state law requires recall petitions to cite a specific reason for the action, which the most recent petitions failed to do.